The Russian ambassador to Afghanistan praised the Taliban following their takeover of the country over the weekend, saying they made the capital “better” than it had been under the previous government.
Although Russia still designates the Taliban as a terrorist organization, the ambassador’s efforts signal an effort for the Kremlin to deepen its connection with the militant group. The ambassador, Dmitry Zhirnov, also has not acknowledged the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan.
“The situation is peaceful and good, and everything has calmed down in the city,” Zhirnov said. “The situation in Kabul now under the Taliban is better than it was under Ashraf Ghani,” who fled the country shortly before the Taliban took Kabul on Sunday.
Zhirnov described the Taliban’s takeover as swift, saying that “the regime fell like a house of cards,” speaking on Moscow’s Ekho Moskvy radio. “There was a feeling of disorder, a power vacuum, and looters came out on the streets.”
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Zhirnov said he was expecting to begin security discussions with the Taliban on Tuesday, noting that the insurgent group made promises to protect Russian diplomats. The Russian ambassador added that recognition of the Taliban government would be dependent on “the conduct of the new authorities” and “how responsibly they govern the country in the near future.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s top representative on Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, also told the radio station he believed the Taliban assuming power was inevitable, saying, “We saw that this force would, in the end, if not completely come to power, would play a leading role in the future of Afghanistan in any case.”
Kabulov echoed Zhirnov’s perspective on the situation in Afghanistan, going one step further and saying, “I have long decided that the Taliban is much more able to reach agreements than the puppet government in Kabul.”
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Chaos in the capital of Afghanistan ensued over the weekend and into Tuesday as the Taliban took over Kabul on Sunday.
President Joe Biden admitted the fall of the government came “more quickly than we anticipated” but stood by his decision to end “America’s war-fighting in Afghanistan” on Monday.
